Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) and John Wicks (Fitz and the Tantrums former drummer) have announced they will release a full album under moniker Deaf Charlie.
Their debut album, Catastrophic Metamorphic, will be released on June 30th via pearljam.com on vinyl and all streaming services.
In a statement, Jeff Ament said: “There’s a real optimism in this batch of mostly dystopian themes, and that comes from John’s upbeat production and playing, he infused a lot of pop and reggae elements into the songs, pushing my arrangements and rhythms into new territory. Most of these tunes had real journeys between our two visions.”
Deaf Charlie’s debut album will contain 12 songs, including the debut single of the band (Something Real, released in 2020), Sitting ‘Round At Home (Buzzcocks cover, released as Something Real 7” b-side), Comeback Player of the Year (inspired by the loss of mutual friend and Seattle café owner Dow Lucurell, who died unexpectedly in 2018), and their new track, Losing My Mind.
Among the Catastrophic Metamorphic guest contributors are Marlon Grace (on Losing My Mind, Something Real and Preamble), some local Montana horn players (Andrew Kagerer, Mitchell Bailey and Cade Chastain) and John Wicks’ own daughters, who provide background vocals on The Orange Flag.
According to SPIN, Catastrophic Metamorphic art was created by Edgar Smith, a fellow Missoula-based artist who also worked on the imagery for Pearl Jam’s 2002 single Save You.
You can pre-order Catastrophic Metamorphic now on a special color variant LP through the Ten Club. Standard black vinyl LP will be available at pearljam.com and indie record stores on release date, Friday, June 30th.
Here is the track list for Catastrophic Metamorphic:
1. Too Great
2. Losing My Mind
3. CHED MAN
4. Something Real
5. Preamble
6. We Are Doing It
7. The Orange Flag
8. Not The Same
9. Sittin’ Round At Home
10. Comeback Player Of The Year
11. Born To Win
12. Watching The Sun
How did Deaf Charlie get its name? Deaf Charlie, Orlando Hanks, was a train robber, with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. He spent a fair amount in prison in Deer Lodge, MT. They called him “deaf” because he had such a beautiful singing voice…
Want to find out more about Orlando Hanks AKA Deaf Charlie? Read more here: pcmaf.org/deaf-charlie-aka-orlando-hanks
Deaf Charlie will also play their first-ever live set at Ed Vedder’s Ohana Festival on Sunday, October 1 with Foo Fighters, The Pretenders and The Backseat Lovers on the same day line up.
The video for the new single Losing My Mind is out now.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Dead Kennedys, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, R.E.M.